I don’t know about you but I am so ready for the weekend. I plan on hanging out with my good friend Sofa for some much needed quality knitting time while catching up on a few of my favorite shows. Sounds great doesn’t it?! I’m pretty excited about it.

One of the wonderful things about our contests is that throughout the week your comments pop up in my email. It feels like I get lovely notes from you during the day. It’s quite nice. There are some really great words here. Thank you so much for playing!

Our winner is: yarnslim and her word is havering. If you could contact Paula@bluemoonfiberarts.com with your name and address she will get your book shipped right out to you

So many lovely words. We will have to do this again soon. I think my favorites from your favorites are, gratitude and hebetude .

As you can see below we have new colorways up. I am adding to our watercolor/speckle/droplets line since it seems to be all the rage. It’s so funny to watch all of trends come and go when you have been in an industry for a long time. When I was first dyeing I did a bunch of these kind of colorways but there was more of an emphasis on wanting colorways that were more clearly defined and repeatable as much as possible so….you give the knitters what they want to knit with . It’s nice that we have come to a place where we are more understanding and appreciative of yarn and colorways that have variations within each lot and are special. Although I think they all are special. ( I so do not want to hurt any colorway’s feelings.)

I am playing with some differing dye techniques so stay tuned for all kinds of color play!

I am putting together some more color themed kits. I like to think of them as color stories. Every combination tells a story based on my inspiration or just how nice they look together.

I thought maybe you would like to play along. I think it is fun to see the differing interpretations of the theme since color is so subjective.

Here are pictures of 2 partial kits and their themes. I kept the themes general so we had lots of creative space. Each kit will have a total of 5 skeins in it so you can pick 3 of our Shaded Solids to complete each kit and write what they are in the comments section of this post.

Below is a picture of the 2 colorways that are your jumping off point and are non-negotiable.

Ectoplasmosis and Psycho Barbie

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2. A Touch of Spring

Here is my take on A Touch of Spring: Black Onyx, H.R.H. Princess Violetta, Love is a battlefield, Crabby Apple Green and Bleck.

And again, below is a picture of the 2 colorways that are your jumping off point and are non-negotiable.

Love is a Battlefield and Crabby Apple Green

So you get to choose three of our Shaded Solids that you think work with the colorways I have chose and put you choices in the comments section of this post and who knows maybe yours will be a kit too!

New Spring Hues!

Ginger Spice

That 70″s Skein

Dreamweavers

Head over Heels

Cupid’s Dart

Bubble Guppy

Raindrops

Shamrock Shennanigans

Supreme Black Dalek

debra’s Magic Blue

Islands in the Stream

.com

Heartache to Heartache

Desert Green

Love is a Battlefield

Scarlette

Bet you thought this skein was about you.

That 70’s Skein Ah…. the 70’s! The 70’s were a time ripe with political activism and wide-open creativity. The 70’s gave us so much wonder like: pet rocks, mood rings, bean bag chairs, crystals, incense, disco, and lots of wild color. As soon as Brandy saw this skein hanging to dry she said, ”you know what that is, don’t you?” It’s That 70’s Skein! Which is really funny because Brandy was not around in the 70’s. However, she loved “That 70’s Show,” and that was her 70’s experience.

Ginger Spice Remember The Spice Girls? Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Posh. Super sassy pop singers. I have noticed that no matter where you are if Wannabe is playing, pretty much everyone is at the very least singing and most people are dancing too. Ginger Spice colorway is our first Homage to the Spice Girl’s colorway. I think next will be Sporty Spice. She was my fave.

“So, here’s a story from A to Z You wanna get with me, you gotta listen carefully We got Em in the place who likes it in your face You got G like MC who likes it on a Easy V doesn’t come for free, she’s a real lady And as for me, ha you’ll see”

Wannabe ~ Spice Girls

Head over Heels Head over Heels, the kind of love (colors) that knocks you off your feet, keeps your head spinning and your heart fluttering.

Cupid’s Dart An arrow of love right smack dab to the heart, that is Cupid’s Dart. A little red for the heart and love, and green for the arrow since love is all about growing, and a wee but of spicy plum for that moment that love strikes!

Islands in the Stream It was Dolly Parton’s birthday recently and I wanted to pay homage to her in color. Now the obvious choice would have been to choose her song, “A Coat of Many Colors” but… her duet with Kenny Rodgers on Islands in the Stream has a special place in my heart. Thank you Dolly for all the great songs and for keeping it real!

Bubble Guppies Evidently this is the name of a kids TV show. I was unaware such a show existed since my kids are all grown. I was just remembering all the guppies we had throughout the years in our aquarium. Also the sound of the filter forever blowing bubbles.

Rain Drops It’s raining a lot right now I know…I live in the Pacific Northwest and that is kinds of its weather M.O.: cloud-filled grey skies leaking water. Usually our rain is a slow, seemingly-considered process which takes days and days of grey cloudy skies to bring forth a few drizzles of rain. So far this winter we have experienced some serious rain. So much water!! Which means I have have water on the brain, specifically rain. This colorway is what rain drop feels like to me.

.com I have been playing dying in specks, drizzles and droplets. While I was making another colorway was it occurred to me that it would be super cute to have a minimalistic black dot colorway and then call it .com. So…here we are!

Heartache to Heartache A whole bunch of red, pink, orange and plum droplets of color that reminds us that sometimes love can be a bit messy and also, maybe hurt a little.

Shamrock Shenanigans Being of mostly Irish and Scottish ancestry I just can’t resist creating colorways to celebrate St. Patricks Day. Also, I just might have this thing for the color green. Maybe.

Dreamweaver

Dream weaver I’ve just closed my eyes again Climbed aboard the dream weaver train Driver take away my worries of today And leave tomorrow behind Ooh dream weaver I believe you can get me through the night Ooh dream weaver I believe we can reach the morning light

Fly me high through the starry skies Maybe to an astral plane Cross the highways of fantasy Help me to forget today’s pain

Ooh dream weaver I believe you can get me through the night Ooh dream weaver I believe we can reach the morning light

In 1976 Gary Wright wrote and sang Dream Weaver and it was a huge hit. Gary was inspired by the book, “Autobiography of a Yogi” that George Harrison gave to him. The idea of mind weaving dreams from Yogananda’s poem “God! God! God!” (same book), also inspired John Lennon, who considered himself a bit of a dream weaver.

I say…aren’t we all dream weavers and these are my dream weaving hues!

Supreme Black Dalek

I am very, very, vey excited about this colorway because it is the beginning of a series for us. I am a HUGE Dr. Who fan and I have been mulling over how best to colorfully express my deep and abiding love for all that is Dr. Who for awhile now. I was perusing the web for Dr. Who-type information recently when I stumble across this: http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/dalek/types/ I know…so exciting. I always wondered about the differing color significance of Daleks and now I know the whole hierarchy and their corresponding hues. Paula and I were pretty tickled by this discovery. We are the Dr. Who fans in Blue Moon land. So here is my first colorway homage to the Dr. and his exterminating Daleks.

Bet you thought this skein was about you.

One of the really interesting things about color creating for me is how differently we all interpret the same color. Color is so very subjective and I get to bear witness to that on a daily basis. I create new colors and as they hang to dry from the rafters all of team Blue Moon weighs in on their personal take of what that colorway says to them. Sometimes there is at least a general theme throughout, but most often the opinion could not be more varied. I actually love that everyone thinks a colorway is theirs. I think that is what you strive for when you create and share.

Love is a battlefield!

For Pat and Shannon!!

“We are young Heartache to heartache we stand No promises, no demands Love is a battlefield

We are strong, no one can tell us we’re wrong Searchin’ our hearts for so long Both of us knowing Love is a battlefield”

Pat Benatar

Debra’s Magic Blue I was working on some new hues for one of our LYS’s. I had inspiration pages I was working from and needed a very specific blue. The blue was the focal point of this colorway so it had to be true. Debra was helping me out because we had a bit of a deadline. And after much trial and error we came of with this blue. A little royal and a little aqua and very magic!

Lime Jello I swear that this is the exact color of the lime jello surprise my mother made for us when we were kids. I’m not quite sure about the surprise part, maybe it was the cool whip. Such a green!

Scarlette I am a big fan of the “happy accident”. Quite a few of our colorways were us making hay out of a mistake. For example Muddy Autumn Rainbow started out as Fire on the Mountain. We had a dye recipe malfunction one day with our Scarlet dye. So I decided since we had this color to see if it would make a good addition to our red offerings and I do believe it does. So in waltzes our accidental femme fatale Scarlette!

The SUN is out!!!! It came out as I was writing this post. I am going to take break and go for a walk in the SUNSHINE!!!!!

Today is all random bits and pieces which as I type that strikes me as a good name for a colorway.

First yes, the website was down for a bit this am. There was some glitch with varnish and the server which I do not understand. All is well now and nothing was compromised! It was a bit nerve wracking though.

Hunter was kind enough to send us a an extra book for you our knitters. So if you leave a comment on this blog post then we will randomly choose among the comments for a winner. What should the comment be about? hmm…

I know how about your favorite word. What is your favorite (non-curse) word? You do not have to explain your reason but you can if you are so inclined. I always love reading the why of things. Now I will be spending all day considering my favorite word. Do I choose for meaning or sound or how it is spelled or it’s root or… . Oh dear.

We will choose our winner next Friday the 22nd.

A little hue news:

We have in fact sent the the holiday colorways off to the spa for a rest. What we have put up is a bit of a celebration of Love, in color, Blue Moon style!!

and….

A little peak at the new colors to come next week.

We are almost caught up from the weather and holidays and really appreciate you patience!

Believe it or not we are not too far away from the end of January and the first sock club shipment of 2016. If you want to be a part of that shipment we need your order soon please.

I can’t wait for you to see what we have cooked up for you this year. You would think that after 10 years I would not get this excited but I do.

Okay I think that covers it for random Blue Moon news bits.

I am off today to go pot shopping. ( It never gets old) Steamer pots!!! hehehe

One last but most assuredly not least things before I go. I just want to say just how sad I am over the loss of two beautiful and talented souls this week. I feel like I was still reeling from announcement about David Bowie’s passing when we got the news about Alan Rickman.

I will really miss both of these men walking their paths, living their lives and gracing us with their talents. I feel blessed that I got to inhabit the world around the same time as they did.

*******Have a great weekend my friends! I am going to knit and spin and drink tea and watch Harry Potter.

Oh my goodness what a few weeks it has been. The holidays make everything and everyone a little more busy than usual. Throw a wee bit of winter weather shenanigans into the mix and well… you know how that goes. Since Blue Moon is up high in the hills of Scappoose (Coast Range foot hills) we get a bit more “winter” than our Portland friends. So we have most certainly had more than our share of snow and ice and I have a feeling that Mother Nature is not quite done with us yet. The positive side of all of this cold is that we did get a White Christmas, and now there is a snow pack on the mountains, and all of this cold will insure a less buggy summer. Right?!

What all of this means for you, our lovely knitters, is that we have been closed a few days that we did not plan on being closed due to, what we are referring to as, extreme weather. It might not be extreme for other areas of the world but for our little corner it sure is.

If you have placed an order in the last 2 weeks I promise you we are working on it!!! It just might take us a little longer due to holiday closures and then the unplanned weather ones. If you have a deadline please do let us know and we will do our best to get you, your order as soon as possible. We really appreciate your understanding and patience.

Our Phoebe is a snow kitty. She loves it!

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It’s January which means the Rockin’ Sock Club 2016 is LIVEfor sign-ups. We (especially the me of we) are always pretty excited this time of year. Last year was out 10th Anniversary and I’ll tell you I was a little nervous about following such a milestone. I thought is was going to be hard but you know what? It isn’t at all! What it is actually is, super exciting! We’ve made a few changes that will open things up for us to be a lot more creative with colorways and yarn amounts which then in turns gives us more creative space for our designs. I am just thrilled!

So thrilled in fact that we are starting the year with our first game of sorts.

As my favorite Doctor (Dr. Seuss) says, “Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all.” ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Our sign-up fun and games!

If you sign-up before: January 6th we will randomly choose from all of those sign-ups, 1 lucky NSK to win a free membership. (Yes, we will just reimburse you.) January 12th we will randomly choose from all of those sign-ups, 2 lucky NSK’s to win a chance to work with me, your depraveDyer on colorway creation. January 20th we will randomly choose from all of those sign-ups, 3 lucky NSK to win a one of our lovely colorway travel mugs January 25th we will randomly choose from all of those sign-ups, 4 lucky NSK’s to win a stunning calendar By our very own Gail Marracci

NOTE: If you want to get in on the first drawing you have the day today to do so!

I know…great fun!

We humbly ask that you please make sure that when you sign up you are using your Rockin’ Sock Club username and password and NOT your Blue Moon one. If you have a gift certificate we ask that you carefully read the redeeming instructions before proceeding. If you have any trouble please do contact us at sockclub@bluemoonfiberarts.com

A little hue news!

Our holiday colorways are coming down for sure this week. Probably tomorrow! If there is a Blue Moon colorway you’d like to see return please do let us know in the comments section of this post.

We will be adding brand new colorways in few weeks, in the meantime, we are bring back some of our favorites from the spa!

After my girls went to bed last night I sat here with a few candles and a glass of wine and ruminated about all that was 2015 has been. I mused over the good times like our epic road trip this summer taking Sophie to college and the more challenging ones like radiation and empty nest.

What a year it has been. So much change, healing and growth all surrounded and nurtured by a stunning amount of love.

Of course the biggest thing for me on a personal level was the whole fighting breast cancer thing. It has been quite the journey and as I sit here barely on the other side of it I am so very grateful. I am grateful to be here to welcome in 2016 with a great deal of hope and love!

I was at Twisted this week to pick up something and as I was leaving there was a woman sitting and spinning away on her Jensen Tina 2. I smiled at her and she smiled so big and beautiful back at me that I went over to chat and see what she was up to. She was familiar to me but I am just awful with the whole name remembering thing so… . We chatted about her Jensen and spinning and that the shawl she was wearing was spun from some of my fiber and just had the loveliest chat. As I was leaving she said to me that she was so very glad to see me out and about and looking so well. I thanked her and told her I was doing very very well and she said that she hoped I knew just how many people were praying, sending love and just rooting for me and I’ll tell you I almost cried then and there because I do know. I know with every cancer free fiber of my being.

It was good to be reminded and she did remind me as I was quickly breezing through that day trying to complete my end of year to do list. She gave me the opportunity to slow down, remember and feel the grace and love.

As quite a few people I know do, I like to pick a word for the New Year that is the focal point out of which all else flows, the year’s spirit. Last year my word was gratitude and I have to tell you it not only served me well, it saved me.

I think 2016’s word is compassion.

Compassion not just for others but for ourselves. Starting with a little self love and tolerance and then working out from there. What would it be like if all of our actions and encounters were laced with compassion? What happens when someone shows you kindness? It’s contagious. When we are shown compassion we tend to then turn right around and share it. Spread the love!

In separateness lies the world’s great misery, in compassion lies the world’s true strength.” Buddha

Thank you for being a part of my journey. I am delighted and ever so grateful to be a part of yours.